Shervantaigh Koopman survived an early scare to stop his Canadian opponent Brandon Cook in five rounds in a junior middleweight contest on Saturday night at Emperor’s Palace in Gauteng, South Africa.
It almost went pear-shaped for the South African in the first round. Cook started aggressively and went right after Koopman, dropping him for an eight count with his left hook. He continued to attack, chasing after a bald Koopman. A right hand that touches Koopman’s gloves to the canvas for a second takedown. Koopman appeared to be teetering on the brink, but kept his wits about him, holding his opponent and stifling his attack as best he could.
Then, suddenly, he nailed Cook with a left hook-right hand combination, the follow-up punches dropping the Canadian in a dramatic turnaround. Cook was up, and after the third eight count of the opening stanza, it was Koopman on the attack as the bell ended the round.
Koopman started the second by sitting on his haunches and keeping Cook at bay with long shots to the head and body. A straight right opened a deep gash above Cook’s left eye that began to bleed. The action was stopped, allowing the doctor to take a long look. When the fight resumed, Koopman nailed Cook with a straight right hook to the jaw. The visitor was not done yet and hit back with wild hooks. Some landed and some didn’t.
In a wild third round, Cook charged out of his corner and bullied Koopman on the ropes. Koopman kept things tight and nailed Cook with a right as he came charging in, but the bloodied Canadian was still dangerous and nailed Koopman with an overhand right of his own moments later. Koopman dug in a right uppercut to the body and followed it up with a right uppercut left hook to the head. Cook just soaked it up and responded with a right hook of his own. However, Koopman now found a way to deal with the pressure and tripped Cook after eating a left hook. A right uppercut to the body dropped Cook to his knees and it was clear that the local man had found the key to the fight. Cook gets up and counts an eight as the bell rings.
Koopman went into full attack mode in the fourth. A right upper-left hook-straight-right combination unleashed a sustained blow, staggering Cook into the ropes and corner. The Canadian ironman kept himself in the fight by landing the occasional power shot, but he was taking punishment.
Koopman landed some hard jabs and a long right uppercut to the body to start the fifth. He ate a right from Cook but responded by punishing the body of his opponent. Those body shots were Cook’s undoing. A right uppercut on the beltline dropped him for another count. Again he got to his feet, but it was nearing the end. A right to the head from Koopman sent him stumbling back into the neutral corner where referee Jean-Robert Laine stopped the fight at the 2:59 mark as Koopman rained down shots on him.
Koopman, who walked through fire for the win, improves to 15-0 with 10 knockouts while Cook drops to 26-3.
Shervantaigh Koopman is now clearly South Africa’s top 154 ​​pounder, and a lot is expected of him.
In the co-main event, another junior middleweight, Brandon Thysse eventually became the South African champion, stopping Nkhensahosi Makondo in the eighth round. The fight had emotional significance for Thysse who claimed the vacant national title in his third attempt at the belt. His late father, Andre Thysse, was Commonwealth champion and a dominant South African super middleweight champion.
Although rough and scrappy at times, the fight was all action from the start. Thysse started quickly and attacked Makondo with hard rights to the body, thrown straight or as hooks. Makondo struggled to find the lane until he found a right of his own. This led to a two-fisted barrage from Thysse, which tore into the middle of Makondo.
The two went at each other in the second vicious body blows, until Thysse gained the upper hand by landing an overhand right to the head, forcing Makondo to clinch. However, Makondo did not want to remain silent and moments later Thysse’s head was snapped back with a right uppercut of his own.
The fight continued in the third. Although Makondo did occasionally land a hard right, Thysse knocked him out. A right hook to the jaw eventually dropped Makondo to the canvas. He made it to his feet, but a right hook-left hook-right uppercut combination left him reeling as the bell came to his rescue.
The pattern continued over the next four rounds. Makondo bit hard on his gum shield and never stopped trying. He did have sporadic success, landing some hard jabs, straight rights and body shots, but Thysse simply had the better output, variety and offensive technique.
The end finally came in the eighth when a left hook-right hand combination bent Makondo’s legs. Thysse immediately switched back to the body. A right hook-left hook to the midsection sent Makondo spinning away from his opponent and when his corner threw in the towel, the fight was over at the 1:06 mark.
Brandon Thysse improves to 17-4-1 with 13 shutouts while Makondo drops to 9-7-1.
South African junior welterweight champion Ntethelelo Nkosi made short work of Sanele Msimang, knocking out the challenger in the first round to retain his belt.
The southpaw demeanor of the stocky challenger posed no problem for Nkosi, who started unleashing his shots as soon as the bell rang. He found a home for his straight right to the body and left hook over the top. The challenger answered with right hooks of his own, two of which landed but did little to deter the forward march of the champion.
A left hook tripped Msimang who stumbled back into the ropes. A one-two from Nkosi, followed by a right uppercut, a double left hook and a final right crumbled Msimang to the canvas. The referee waved the fight over without completing the count at the 2:56 mark as it was clear that Msimang was not back on his feet.
Ntethelelo Nkosi is now 7-2 and scores his fourth knockout while Msimang drops to 16-5.
Undercard results:
Bonginkosi Nhlapo W SD 6 Tuvia Wewege (light heavyweight)
Dean Promnick W SD 6 Morgan Hunter (Middleweight)
Juan Alberts W UD 4 Pieter Breytenbach (heavyweight)
The tournament was hosted by Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotions
